The bad news? The Exorcist: Believer has lost its release date and, oddly enough, it all has to do with Taylor Swift. The good news? Horror lovers are actually going to get the chance to see the film earlier than expected, as its release has actually been pushed up a week by Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions. Luckily, this isn’t one of those situations where we’re going to have to wait longer to see something.
So, what happened, exactly? Why is a major movie’s release date being pushed up mere weeks ahead of its scheduled release? Originally, director David Gordon Green’s R-rated sequel to The Exorcist was scheduled to arrive on Friday, October 13, which seemed like a fitting date. However, Grammy-winning artist Taylor Swift just announced that she is releasing a concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in theaters on that same day. The tour in question has been a resounding success and Swift is one of the most popular artists in the world right now. As a result, the studio opted to get out of Swift’s way. Blumhouse head Jason Blum took it in stride.
Look what you made me do.
— Jason Blum (@jason_blum) August 31, 2023
The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23#TaylorWins
The fact of the matter is that Universal and Blumhouse have a lot riding on this movie. They invested a boatload of cash - around $400 million to be more precise - to have Green, the man behind the most recent Halloween trilogy, bring this franchise back to life. They even got Ellen Burstyn to reprise her role as Chris MacNeil for the first time since 1978. A full trilogy is already in the works, with The Exorcist: Deciever due to hit theaters in 2025. They can’t afford for this first installment to tank. So moving to a weekend where they aren’t competing with one of the world’s biggest pop stars is a wise choice. The synopsis for the film reads as follows:
“Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).”
Look for The Exorcist: Believer in theaters on October 6.
